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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28393089">Star-crossed secrets and tentacular truths</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/elzierav/pseuds/elzierav'>elzierav</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Elz's Xmas 2020 gift fics [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>RWBY</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Alternate Universe - Space, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Established Ironluck, Fantastic Racism, Gentle Sex, Gift Fic, Hugs, Let's Wreck James, Let's Wreck Qrow, M/M, Making Out, Mission Fic, Missions Gone Wrong, Overstimulation, Polyamory, Spaceships, Tentacle Sex, Tentacles, at the end only, consensual tentacle sex, or at least more inspired by star trek than I had initially intended, vaguely a star trek fusion</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 15:13:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,000</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28393089</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/elzierav/pseuds/elzierav</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Captain James Ironwood takes a small away team for an underwater exploration mission on a newly discovered planet. The mission goes smoothly... at first. But soon, lives are at play, secrets are revealed, and loyalties and loves are challenged.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Clover Ebi/James Ironwood, Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi, Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi/James Ironwood, Qrow Branwen/James Ironwood</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Elz's Xmas 2020 gift fics [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2088366</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>29</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Star-crossed secrets and tentacular truths</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/StoryWeaverKirea/gifts">StoryWeaverKirea</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Merry belated xmas to the incredible and amazing StoryWeaverKirea! Hope you enjoy this little bit of OT3 :)</p><p>Warnings: read the tags. This fic contains tentacle porn, if you don't want to read that part that is of course totally fine and valid! Hugs and I love you. Just skip out what comes after the ///////////////// warning sign, the rest of the fic before that totally makes sense on its own I promise ;)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“This is against protocol, Officer Ebi,” Captain Ironwood reprimands briskly, walking down to the shuttle bay with his first officer in tow. “As you know, both you and I should not be planetside at the same time, if that can be avoided. One of us should remain on board to take care of the ship.”</p><p>“James, the ship will be just fine under the command of Officer Schnee,” Ebi replies without missing a beat. “From what we know, the inhabitants of Argus 3 don’t have any air or space-based technology able to attack the USS Atlas. They are an underwater civilisation who hardly ever dwells above surface level.”</p><p>“From what we know,” James repeats, pinching the bridge of his nose in concentration. “We can never be careful enough. What we know about intelligent life in the Argosi system is extremely limited. For all we know, Salem’s ships may already be hiding out on Argus 3, ready to ambush us.”</p><p>“With all due respect, Captain… not everything is about Salem. Sure, they are our number one enemy right now, but there is so much more out there in space. This is just an exploration mission, to estimate this planet’s Dust resources and figure out just how soon its civilisation may achieve faster than light travel. And I thought I might be useful since I… well, I grew up near the sea, my parents are fishermen, I’m used to that kind of environment.” </p><p>“We’ll be inside the shuttle all of the time, if all goes well.”</p><p>“If all goes well,” the first officer echoes darkly, finally catching up with the Captain as their knuckles briefly brush against one another's. </p><p>At that, the captain’s breath hitches. He pauses in his step - an infinitesimal pause, albeit long enough for his first officer’s sculptural shoulder to bump into his prosthetic side.</p><p>“Clover… I just don’t want to risk losing you,” James admits in a soft murmur. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”</p><p>A hesitation. A silence, their fingers meeting and intertwining a fraction of a second before their lips touch. The kiss is soft, barely more than a shared breath stolen from the eternity of time as the stars bleed around them through the starship’s windows, as the stars come to a stop as even time changes its pace, skidding to a stop just for them. </p><p>“Nor I you, James,” Clover replies with a small smile that crinkles the corners of his eyes, leaning in to boop his commanding officer’s nose. “Please, let me come with you and protect you, just this once.”</p><p>The USS Atlas drops out of light speed, hovering over Argus 3 for the away team to take the shuttle and explore the planet. Each star, each moon is now a stable orb of light through the dark vastness of space, but to Ironwood’s eyes the matching rings on his first officer’s hand and on his own ring finger outshine even the brightest of celestial bodies.</p><p>“You know there are few things I can refuse you when you stare at me like this, darling,” James gently grins back, the slightest of tremors in his quiet tone. “I really do love you.”</p><p>“I love you too.”</p><p>“Ahem… not to interrupt you two star-crossed lovers, but we’ve got a shuttle to take and a planet to visit,” comes a gruff voice from the shuttle bay as the metal doors soundlessly slide open. </p><p>“Good morning to you too, Qrow,” James greets while Clover waves sheepishly, following his Captain toward the shuttle that will take them planetside. </p><p>The mission, thankfully, proves uneventful. </p><p>There is a slow silence underwater, as the shuttle, repurposed as a submarine, sails through the dark, cold waters, rays of pale blue light filtering through the thin sheet of iridescent ice at the surface. There is a silence as the sea life navigates around them, jellyfish-like creatures swimming soundlessly with their tentacles trailing behind them. There is a wordless, yet flawless structure, as well-oiled as clockwork, as schools of otherworldly fish precisely part before the shuttle’s hull, never colliding with the vessel’s metal body. There is a shimmer of scales - gold, green, orange - like a dream dispelled away too soon as they penetrate a forest of magenta kelp, languidly oscillating alongside the currents. </p><p>Data collection is fruitful, as Qrow, the USS Atlas’s head biologist, takes numerous samples of seawater, of ice, of algae, and even animal life. Sitting at the front of the cockpit, Penny, the ship’s redhead android, dutifully steers their submarine while ensuring everything remains functioning optimally, while James and Clover focus on identifying intelligent life and watching out for any sources of danger. </p><p>Soon, they come within view of alien settlements, taking multiple scans of which certain are blocked by the bubble-like barrier protecting the constructs of clams, kelp, and pearls. Leaning over his first officer’s shoulder, the captain shows Clover some data analysis tricks on his Scroll - James was chief science officer before the retirement of his previous Captain led to his promotion, offering him the command of the USS Atlas. Even though his schedule barely allows it, he remains fascinated by the secrets that science can elucidate, such as how the positioning of the alien villages matches the star map as viewed from the skies of Argus 3. </p><p>Thankfully, the mission is uneventful - at least, at first. </p><p>“I detect an anomaly in the temperature map,” Penny announces, lowering the ship toward the pallid silvery sands between the tall floating algae so Qrow can take a sand sample. “We appear to be entering a zone of geothermal activity.”</p><p>“Penny, what is the risk of an eruption within the next five minutes?” Ironwood prompts while Qrow pilots the ship’s artificial arms to collect a handful of shiny sand grains and magnifies them under the microscope, searching for the refraction wavelengths that signal traces of usable Dust.</p><p>“Captain, my algorithms compute a probability of zero point one three -”</p><p>At first, this mission was uneventful. Alas, only at first.</p><p>Penny is an android. She does not scream or gasp or even pause when an infinitesimally improbable geyser erupts a bout of magma, instantly freezing at the contact of cold water. Instantly, but not before melting part of the shuttle’s metal tail and sending the vessel twirling and waltzing amidst the kelp. There is an instant where gravity vanishes, where down is up, and the world is a blur of purple and blue, before the cockpit crashes into the white sand. </p><p>As fast as they can, Qrow and Penny use the ship’s robot arms to section and detangle the kelp that keeps them from breaking free - but that is not enough. That is not enough, because the hull has been breached by the incandescent lava, water leaking in through the torn metal into the shuttle. </p><p>“That seawater is way below zero degrees,” Qrow mutters, trying to move the artificial appendices to block the leaks and only partially managing. “I wouldn’t let it touch your skin, if I were you...”</p><p>“And the cabin is depressurising,” Penny adds, ethereally calmly given the situation.</p><p>“Captain, permission to leave the submarine and -” Clover begins, drawing the plasma gun at his belt.</p><p>“Absolutely not,” James interrupts sharply while pushing his lover away from the water spurting in to protect the brunette with his own body. “There must be another -”</p><p>“Initialising human life protection protocol,” the android announces placidly before darting out of the ship using the dedicated double door.</p><p>There is a flash of green - her laser eyes melting the metal of the tail, causing it to coalesce back into a single, scarred piece with a jarring sound akin to nails against chalkboards. For a second, the jets of leaking water wither and cease - and then, the geyser fires again. </p><p>When the spouting lava subsides, so does the green light. </p><p>And then, only silence follows. </p><p>“Penny,” the captain commands. “Status report.”</p><p>Through the silence, bouts of static. James’s heart is thundering at his eardrums, and he senses Clover tense up by his side while Qrow types frantically into the ship’s console.</p><p>“... It has been… a pleasure to serve … aboard the Atlas, Captain Ironwood!”</p><p>Then, more bouts of static.</p><p>And then, nothing. The silence is a prison. The sea above is a prison, its towering pressure menacing to crush Penny and the damaged shuttle as each second trickles by, only rhythmed by the sound of Qrow’s maddened typing.</p><p>“C’mon computer, gimme the expected time of the next eruption given the previous pattern sequence,” the science officer mutters between gritted teeth. </p><p>“One minute, two seconds, and 367.1 milliseconds,” the computer replies immediately, drawing a curse from the scientist.</p><p>“Frame me later for insubordination, Jimmy, but I’m not leaving her to die.”</p><p>And with a mock little bow, Qrow exits the cabin, a dedicated diving suit automatically adjusted onto his body by the ship’s mechanical arms. </p><p>Outside, the silence is cold. Outside, the silence is heavy. Outside, the silence is overbearing. A timer watch gleams weakly at his wrist, counting down how many seconds he has left, while the water drags down each of his efforts to brush off the algae dancing before his translucent helmet. </p><p>Fifty seconds left. He darts through the forest of kelp, until his eye catches a flash of red hair gently swayed by the currents. Penny’s jet-powered feet struggle weakly through the water, but her breached shell already lets in water, powering down her systems. He cannot hear her, he cannot hear anything, but he sees her arm trapped in the hardened lava from the geyser. </p><p>Forty seconds left. Using his plasma blaster, he can pulverise the rock and break her limb free. She will lose her forearm, but that can be replaced - and that’s better than losing all of her. Even the blasts of the firearm are quiet, muffled by the water. The jets of light burn into the stone, liberating a myriad of dark particles and clear bubbles, but still the newly solidified stone does not budge, does not give. So he shoots again. And again. And again.</p><p>Thirty seconds left. Particles of rock and magma swirl before his field of vision, as the sandy ground grumbles under them. As the current lulls him, it’s hard to stay still, it’s hard to aim straight… But he has to try. Again. And again. And again.</p><p>Twenty seconds left. A second passes. Then another. Then another as he tries relentlessly, wriggling her metal arm free as he fires his weapon again, and again, and…</p><p>Twelve point eight seven two seconds. There is a low cracking sound before the stone fractures, and he can finally jerk her hand free. Swirls of her green blood mingle into the sea like drops of ink diffusing through water. </p><p>Ten seconds. Gosh, she’s heavy in his arms, her carcass is full of water. The cracks in the stone propagate further, and soon the debris tumbles in their direction. He tries to dodge, alas…</p><p>Five seconds. A shard of hard magma hits his shoulder. Briefly, he feels pain. And then, nothing but cold, mind-numbing cold. </p><p>Two seconds. Outside of the diving suit, the silence is cold. And soon, the inside turns cold too.</p><p>There is a swirl of black. And through the black, a hint of red - and white. White as bone, bone-chilling white. </p><p>Nothing makes sense. And then, finally, there is warmth. Qrow takes a deep breath - the deepest he’s taken in his life. Then another, then another. They are inside the ship’s cockpit again, somehow, and Penny is still cradled between his arms, drenched in water. His hands shake too much, his body shakes too much, even his soul shakes, but someone - or something - is prying his diving suit away, letting him breathe freely. Above his face, pulling the glass helmet off, is Clover’s face, too close, dangerously close, eyeing away from Qrow and Penny. </p><p>Following Clover’s apprehensive teal gaze, Qrow finds James, gun in hand, aiming unflinchingly at his first officer’s head. </p><p>Qrow does not understand. Nothing makes sense. Nothing makes sense, until the scientist turns back to Clover and sees that… where the man’s strong legs usually stand, thick, black tentacles sprawl like the appendages of an octopus, spreading all over the cockpit to keep the portions of the ship together, their thick, elastic, dark skin impervious to the incoming jets of icy water. Other tentacles protectively wrap around Qrow and Penny - and on the underside of them, through expanses of red, are the bony white eye-shaped markings characteristic of the Salem alien race. </p><p>“You’re one of them,” James snarls, attempting to hide the hurt of betrayal in his voice. “Part of a race that openly wages war on all of humanity! How long have you...”</p><p>“I was born a hybrid. I was always like this.”</p><p>“And you kept that a secret. Even from me, your commanding officer, and your fiancé.”</p><p>“You and I both know that I would have been cast out from the fleet or used as a test subject for experiments if anyone had found out. I’d have had to leave you. I’ve known since I was a child, since I almost drowned and my body shapeshifted into this alien form to let me breathe and survive underwater, but I’ve always had to keep that a secret.”</p><p>A pause. A tremor across James’s fingers gripping his weapon, almost imperceptible. Every word hurts. Every syllable hurts. The betrayal hurts, the lies hurt, and the truth hurts even more. Because it hits close to home. Because Clover is half human, and had to give away his other half to survive, had to hide that he was part alien, part other, different, less than whole. Terrified that if he were found out, those that loved him would turn away from him and his less than human self. </p><p>James’s blue gaze is made of steel, but his metal fingers within silky gloves shiver against the trigger of his blaster gun. </p><p>“James, please...” Clover begs, fear shining within those aqua eyes that always mesmerised his captain. </p><p>“If you wanna take him down, you’ll have to go through me first,” Qrow coughs out with difficulty, shakily getting back to his feet as he brushes away the dark tentacles around him. “I know the insubordination mess still stands, but as far as I know that warrants some time in the brig and maybe being knocked down a rank or two, not being shot in the face by a superior officer.”</p><p>“Why would you do that?” James asks, a solemnity in his clenched jaw. “Why would you stand up for a traitor who’s lied to us his entire life, a traitor descending from the very alien race that has been humanity’s worst enemy for decades! Why do you trust him with your life?”</p><p>“Because he has been this way the entire time, and that hasn’t stopped him from being a model officer through his whole career! This is the same person that you’ve always known, Jimmy, the same person that you’ve always loved, the same person that we’ve always loved…”</p><p>“What do you mean...” Clover exhales, astounded, as a different, inky coloration propagates across his tentacled and human halves, rendering his appearance even more alien. </p><p>“I’ve had feelings for you the whole time, lucky charm. I’ve had feelings for you since we started working together. I’ve never told you, but I may as well, now that I’m about to lay my life down for you.”</p><p>“Qrow... ” James begins. </p><p>“I’m not done,” the scientist hisses. “Jimmy… I really like you too. I’ve liked you for so many years, and I still like you now. And this is why I trust you. This is why I trust you with my life, and I trust that you won’t make a dumb decision like shooting me down and then shooting down the man you always loved. I trust that one of the men I love won’t act inhumanely and forget that Clover is half alien, and half human too.”</p><p>“Qrow, I...” the captain stammers. </p><p>But it is too much, and words are not enough, and nothing is enough… his gun clattering to the bottom of the shuttle, the captain tumbles to his knees, straight into Qrow’s tight embrace. Tears flow down James’s face, dragged down by gravity and the weight of his decisions, of heavy lies and tentacular truths. Tears flow down, staining Qrow’s hair and his cheeks with their shine. There is a gentle, bashful light within the biologist’s vermillion eyes, and James cannot find what to say. </p><p>“Thank you, thank you for trusting me...” he cannot help but mutter, mutter repeatedly until he can muster the courage. </p><p>The courage to bend down slightly and deposit the softest of pecks onto Qrow’s cheek, finally admitting the affection he had harboured for so many years, the affection he had never dared admit in fear that Clover would turn away from him at the sight of his endless greed as if the world were not enough, as if the stars were not enough…</p><p>“Y-you too… really?” Qrow whispers, nuzzling into the captain’s soft beard. </p><p>“Yes, Qrow. I have always deeply cared for you, and still do to this day.”</p><p>“I feel the same toward both of you... if you’ll still have me,” Clover says, wrapping hesitant arms around the two other men. “As a boyfriend and fiancé, I mean. Not as a test subject for experiments on aliens.”</p><p>“I’d be tempted to take some blood samples at some point,” Qrow teases, arching into the warmth of the hybrid’s strong chest while James chuckles in agreement. “But later, not now.”</p><p>“For now, if you don’t mind, officers, we should get out of here, even my tentacles won’t be able to hold this shuttle together indefinitely.”</p><p>“I am hailing the Atlas,” James replies, partially disengaging from the hug to draw his Scroll. “Officer Schnee? Please send a tractor beam to our location. We need urgent evacuation.”</p><p>They remain tightly locked in an embrace until the tractor beam brings them back to their starship, at which point, as James helps the engineering crew move out Penny for immediate repairs, Clover picks up the still slightly shivering and shaking Qrow, silencing his protests with a sound kiss before carrying him to the med bay.</p>
<hr/><p>“Who’d have thought we’d end up this way?” James muses within the warmth of his quarters, playing cards with Clover and Qrow who are both cuddled on either side of him. “What were the odds?”</p><p>After bandaging his shoulder and administering him fever shots, Dr. Polendina released Qrow to the care of both his lovers, his condition following proving more scary than serious brief hypothermia.</p><p>“The odds are that Clover will win… again,” the biologist drawls, setting down another card on the table. </p><p>“Clover is just that lucky,” James chuckles, running teasing fingers through the brunette’s hair. “Right, darling?”</p><p>“Maybe you need an incentive to win,” his first officer retorts with a wink. </p><p>James draws a deep breath… and another, and another, before replying. </p><p>“You know, I’ve been thinking that… I would like to… how to phrase this? You know, have you in your tentacled form, naked in the hot bathtub. I mean with all three of us naked in the hot bathtub, and...”</p><p>“You’d like to have sex with me in my tentacled form?” Clover says, green eyes suddenly brightened.</p><p>“Well,” the captain clears his throat, a furious blush spreading across his cheeks, “if Qrow agrees...”</p><p>“You know me when it comes to biology experiments… hell yeah!” the science officer replies, a rare smile stretching across his lips. </p><p>“I would like to apologise for my behaviour earlier,” Ironwood adds, “and reiterate that we love you as you are, under either of your forms, and that this new development changes nothing about the feelings we have for you.”</p><p>“C’mon Jimmy. Don’t pretend the tentacles don’t make him way hotter.”</p><p>“Hmmm… let’s not get over-excited until we beat Clover in the next game,” James retorts.</p><p>In the round that follows, never has Clover lost so fast in his life. </p>
<hr/><p>////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////</p><p>The captain’s quarters, though designed along the principle of militaristic simplicity, have the most spacious bathroom in the USS Atlas, comprising a sizable bathtub within which Clover sits, inhaling the fumes of hot water mingling with the fragrances of jasmine and rose petals sprinkled over the surface. </p><p>His tentacles hang on either side of the bath, suckers sticking against the humid wall and waving languidly in the direction of his two boyfriends, teal eyes watching hungrily as they lube each other up, indulging in eager touches and passionate kisses all the while. The sound of their wanton moans is music to each of Clover’s tentacles, each hypersensitive sucker shivering with anticipation. </p><p>Then, when Qrow turns to the first officer, a tentacle gently wraps around his waist and lifts him into the air, eliciting a surprised gasp as he is positioned hovering over the bath, the squishy tentacle tips teasing his entrance, glistening with cold lube. Clover has always witnessed Qrow’s behind from afar, clothed in those dark and sinfully tight regulation pants, but being able to use his hands and tentacles to pry apart the soft, dimpled mounds of alabaster skin is a new, exhilarating experience. Holding Qrow just as open as he likes, Clover leans in to swipe his tongue along the pucker, sensing each irregularity, each imperfection that enhances his sensation to beyond perfection. </p><p>At that, Qrow inhales sharply, his spine arching back in the grasp that keeps him in place. Immediately, James inches closer to the bath, capturing the biologist’s whimpers in a possessive kiss. Encouraged by the sound of Qrow’s delicious vocalisations into Ironwood’s mouth, Clover repeats the gesture, replacing his tongue with one of his tentacles. This time, there is the maddening periodicity of heightened sensitivity, every time a suction cup meets the tiniest of grooves, the tiniest of folds, drawing a contented sigh from the hybrid. </p><p>There is a warning sound as James’s lips trail down the graceful arch of Qrow’s neck, bent backward to give him more access, before kissing down the middle of his chest and peppering soft pecks into Clover’s tentacle wrapped around the scientist’s trim waist. The boneless appendage helplessly curls and jerks at that, causing Clover to mewl with pleasure before returning to his ministrations, rimming Qrow’s entrance with both tongue and tentacle. </p><p>Losing no time, the Captain takes their newest lover’s erection into his hand, licking experimentally from the base all the way to the tip. Each of Clover’s hyper-acute suckers sense it in unison when a shiver ripples down the scientist’s spine at the sensation of Ironwood’s mouth taking in Qrow’s hard member. </p><p>The half-human can relate - he knows only too well the feelings that the captain’s hot, hellishly talented mouth can elicit. Egged on by Qrow’s reaction, the first officer presses on, allowing his tentacle to delve deeper into the darkness within his lover, relishing in the exquisite tightness that demands to be claimed and caressed all at once. </p><p>Under the hybrid’s control, another pair of wayward tentacles slithers its way down the side of the bath. While one wraps around the captain’s scarred erection, causing James to suppress a volley of moans, the other caresses the commanding officer’s soft, thick raven hair before crawling down the nape of his neck, marvelling in the textured detail of the tissue between scarred skin and sleek steel, between sweaty muscle and searing metal. </p><p>The elastic appendage trails down the axis of symmetry like one follows a horizon line - extremely aware of the irregular landscape of broken flesh on one side and the unbroken, smooth surface of stainless prosthetics on the other. The suction cups dragging ever so slightly against the middle of the captain’s back, adoring both sides equally before reaching his posterior. All the while, teal eyes glitter at the sight of the usually dignified, solemn starship commander writhing with overwhelming lust under the touch of Clover’s alien limbs. </p><p>There is a tightness that forms at James’s lips when the tentacle reaches the captain’s behind. Qrow can perceive it immediately, the slightest hint of teeth imprinting for the briefest millisecond against his painfully hard length. Then, the alien appendage within Qrow’s entrance pushes deeper, causing his whole body to throb and spasm with pure pleasure. </p><p>Time stops and space shatters every time the roundness of a new, sticky sucker breaches his opening, pressing against the sinful tightness of his walls with terrifying regularity. Space stretches and time melts, the stars melt out of the sky every time the tentacle tentatively wriggles inside him, expanding the darkness within at the turbulent pace of crashing ocean waves. Time is broken, space is broken, and Qrow cannot tell how long it takes before a violent orgasm crests within him, before James swallows his erupting come more than eagerly. </p><p>And then, a second tentacle slips inside Qrow. The two appendages waltz silently, collide soundlessly with that astounding elasticity that makes them bounce apart, impossibly stretching the space between Qrow’s walls. A broken scream escapes the biologist’s lips, before a different tentacle caresses his lips, soothingly tracing the contour of his mouth before wrapping around the lower part of his face, slowly sliding down to his neck. How many of these tentacles are yet to be used? Even Qrow’s scientific mind loses count as the supple limb wrapped around his neck jerks him vigorously so he can find himself face to face with Clover. </p><p>Teal eyes are as blissful as the calm sea as a strong hand cups the biologist’s face on one side, a tentacle caressing the other side of his jaw. Qrow whimpers at the loss of contact with James’s mouth, leaving his member wet and swollen and throbbing, but soon Clover joins their lips in a gentle kiss, the slightest hint of tongue giving Qrow a small taste of himself. The scientist’s mind, barely coherent enough to comprehend that sensation, blanks out completely as another climax ripples through him, causing even his toes to curl up in the tub’s hot water.</p><p>Then, a third tentacle enters Qrow’s behind, and the world ceases existing, the edge of the bathtub is the edge of the known universe. Galaxies can spin out of orbit, dust can return to dust, the biologist’s blissed out mind would not know, barely holding on to the impossible sensation of three chaotically entwined bodies writhing within him, wrecking him, worshipping him. All his choked throat can manage is a shattered whimper as he comes for the third time before his soul surrenders to blissful, blissful darkness…</p><p>The added tightness upon Clover’s tentacles is immediate as Qrow’s opening clenches down with overstimulation. The lithe man goes limp within the tentacular grasp around him, stunning crimson eyes rolling back in their orbits before slowly fluttering close behind long, lush black lashes. Carefully, while remaining buried inside Qrow, the hybrid lowers the passed out body into the bath water so the science officer’s head can rest on Clover’s chest, his feathery hair tickling the brunette’s nose. </p><p>Delicately checking Qrow’s pulse and breathing to verify he is not hurt, despite being out cold, James leans in to deposit a slow, soft kiss against the scientist’s lax, pliant lips. Ironwood’s flesh hand caresses down the side of Qrow’s blissed out face, but soon strong tentacles pull him away, grip tightening around his painfully hard manhood to milk every last drop of come from his body. Simultaneously, as Clover’s multitasking never ceases to amaze him, the tentacle up his posterior sinks in deeper, impossibly deep, and bending down he can see it bulging against the flesh side of his stomach and hear it echo against the stiffness of the metal side. </p><p>James catches a glimpse of his first officer’s dilated pupils, aqua irises almost swallowed entirely by blackness, before another tentacle penetrates the captain’s entrance, drawing a series of vocal moans. Ironwood’s eyes roll back to white, desire consuming him as the appendages are scissoring, stretching, twisting inside of him, eliciting supernovae before the backdrop of his shut eyelids. Is it just an illusion of his unravelling, utterly unravelling mind, or is the second tentacle even longer and thicker than the first? The jerking motion of the alien limb wrapped around his cock accelerates, each suction cup increasingly insistent until James’s climax is inevitable, ineluctable as the rise of the dual moons over Argus 3.</p><p>All that he needs to send Ironwood over the edge is the soft promise of Clover’s lips, all but dropping a small kiss onto the oversensitive tip of his scarred manhood. The captain’s orgasm is earth-wrecking, gravity-wrecking, leaving him drifting endlessly amidst the vastness of space as pain and pleasure throb through his half-human body, through the utter entirety of his mind. </p><p>Blue eyes blinking somewhat confusedly, James realises he must have passed out for a few seconds, for now he rests with his head resting in the crook of Clover’s neck. The bathwater is warm against Ironwood’s skin, flower petals haphazardly caressing his legs as they float upon the water tainted with human come and octopus ink. Still cuddling Clover’s chest, Qrow slowly stirs awake, drawing James in for a languid kiss, then another, then another, until they are continuously making out to the vibration of the brunette’s soft snore. His sated tentacles recoil before he returns to his human form, an exhausted but content smile stretching his sleepy features.</p><p>They should probably have a proper bath at some point, James reasons. Careful not to disturb his slumbering boyfriends, he pulls the plug and opens the tap for hot, clear water to pour out. For now, they should rest and savour the instant, before having to actively clean themselves and go to bed for the night. After all, it is not every day that one gets a new boyfriend to share, or that one gets lovingly wrecked by tentacles, and it is definitely not every day one can win at cards against one Clover Ebi.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>uh. If you've been wondering why so many of my gift fics and OT4 week fics have been late. I've been sick, as in more so than usual, and still trying to figure out exactly what is wrong with me. So hang on while I try to finish at least this series of fics I was intending to gift :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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